No terror link in cab driver’s murder: Himachal Police

Shimla, Jan 22 (IANS) The Himachal Pradesh Police on Friday ruled out the possibility of a terror angle to the murder of a car driver hired by three people for travel to Pathankot in Punjab.

A police officer said there could be a drug angle to the crime.

However, the police said an alert had been sounded in the hill state after driver Vijay Kumar’s murder. His body was found near a bridge on January 20, three days after he went missing.

“Our investigations have not shown any terror link so far to the murder. We are on the job to identify and trace the three accused and recover the vehicle,” Director General Sanjay Kumar told reporters in Shimla.

The Delhi Police had earlier on Friday issued an alert after the taxi driver was found dead in Himachal.

Through its official Twitter handle, the Delhi Police released the photographs of three suspects and the details of the Maruti Alto car, bearing registration number HP- 01D-2440.

The car was hired on January 17 from Gaggal town on the outskirts of Dharamsala, some 250 km from state capital Shimla, in Kangra district.

“We have got some clues from the CCTV footage of the suspects. Our investigations don’t suggest any terrorist angle. There could be a drug angle as the victim was in jail for 18 months in a drug case,” he said.

He said information about the crime was shared with the neighbouring states.

Six Pakistani terrorists attacked the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot on January 2, killing seven security personnel. Prior to the attack, they had killed a taxi driver Ikagar Singh and allegedly kidnapped a Punjab Police superintendent of police and two others accompanying him.